Timbre-controller for electrical musical instruments.



M. L. SEVERY & G, B. SINCLAIR. mum CONTROLLER r03 ELEGTRICALMUSIUAL INSTRUMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 7, 1905. I 1 1 1 0,012, Patented Sept. 8, 1914.

2 SHEETSSHEBT 1,

Invenlrlf, MZvinL. Severy;

V fltborng M. L. SEVERY & G. B. SINCLAIR. TIMBER CONTROLLER FOR ELECTRICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 7, 1905.

Patented Sept. 8, 1914.

2 SHEETS--SHEET 2. 0 1) EF 4; A 130 x" F on on O O o a" 0 0. 0 7w 0 n 0 on O O C 0 0 O O O 5 0 o o 6 o o 9 O 0 o" O o o 0 n O 0 o G .u L o o o o F O O O O o o o o o o o 9 o o o o o o o 0 on o o o o o 0 o O n o o o 0 o Q o 0 o o 0 T 0 o o o o owl 0 o o o o 0 0+ 19 o o o o o o O o o o 0 OH 0 o o o o o o o o o v 0 /h(r o o o 9 (l\ 0 5 j] a FE 1) C6 No r'rn cal Invenlrs. Mlvin L. Saved 3% Georgefi. S

Wifiaesses;

incla i4,-

a rnoy.

I To all whom it may concern UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MELVIN L. SEVERY, OF ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, AND GEORGE E. SINCLAIR, 0F

WINTHROP, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS TO CHORALCELO MANUFAOTUB ING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

Specification of Letters Patent 1 PatentedSept. 8,1914.

Application filed August 7,1905. Serial No. 273,202.

Be it known that we, MELVIN L. SEVERY, of Arlington Heights, in the county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, and GEORGE B. SINCLAlR, of WYinthrop, in the count of Suliolk, in said State, both citizens 0 the United States, have made certain new and useful ln'iprovements in Timbre-Coritrollers for Electric MusicalInstruments, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description,

Our invention has for its purpose the con musical instrument, for tl1epurpose of changing the quality of musical sounds emitted, wheneverdesired. Inthose instruments where'the sonorous bodies are strings we contemplate the change of the pitch an tone quality of said bodies, Without altering their normal length or tension.

The instrument to which ourinve'ntion is especially applied is of the piano type, and the normal pitches of the strings under normal conditions correspond with'the pitches usually associated'with the respective keys of a piano. v These pitches also correspond respectively with the periodicities of the make-and-break or impulse-generating devices normally associated with the strings.

When, however, it is desired electrically to change the tone qualities given oil by the strings, their actuating" electromagnets have pulsations of higher frequencies switched into them with the result that they give off pitches the same as those of the pulsations, but. higher than those'normally associated with the strings and their corresponding keys. These tones are of an entirely different quality from those produced under the aforesaid normal conditions. to be noted that these new qualities are not harmonics having a more or less submerged gravel tone present, as in the case of the piano, violin and the like, but they are distinctly new qualities having distinctl new ground tones, which ground tones 0 result from the length and tension of the strings, but .do result from the periodicities of the makeand-break or impulse-producing devices which are sending pulsations It is further not into the electroniagnets actuating the strings. Each of these new ground tones has its own system of iarmonics. This distinction is vital and must not be confused of other instruments, which are the result not of the substitution of a new'ground,

tone, but rather of a change in the relative prominence of the harmonics'forming composite tones. Such tones are natural or um forced, whereas the new qualities we pro duce re ult fro n forced vibrations which determiifi with mathematical accuracy the pitches ofthe' ground tones. Such special type of our invention, wherein tuned strings are employed for the sonorous bodies 'is set forth in the following description and in the-drawings associated therewith.

Referring to the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side elevation of our device, showing in section a portion of the piano with which the same'is designed to be connected, with other parts illustrated in diagram. Fig. 1 is a fragmentary front elevation of the piano-key bed. showing the indicator and markings. Fig. 2 is a plan view of said device, with a part thereof represented as broken away. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional View on. the broken line X-X in Fig. 5 of the contactblocks and supporting-board composing part ofthe timbre controller. Fig. 4 is a rear view, and Fig. 5 a face view, of same.

The reference numeral 1 indicates a. con

tact-making device corresponding to the key,- board of the piano, and 2 is the part of the piano-key bed above which the piano-keys are usually located.

10 is one of the piano wires or strin s,

ported by the arms 73 pivoted at 87 concenv trio with t e curvature of snicl board 85. A coiled spring 1 attached been exreusion of said arm or arms 73 serves to'eouneerbalonce the bar 71 and the arms 73, and thereby ease the operation of shifting the position of the said her and brushes with respect; to the contact-blocks 70. To thus shift said her and brushes, the bllfllllllll. lever 78, 76 is pivotally supported upon the spindle 81 held by the piano-section 2, and is pro vicled with an exizension 8 engaging the arm 75 rigid with said e iris By swing .iug said lever to one side or the other, the brushes 723 raised or lowered IECCOYCL iugly. The front eiid of said lever is eonnected with a bl ok and poiu er 79 slidable in :1; guide-way 80; and sail goiul'er by means of suitable markings 79 along the from; of the piano, enables the operator to know at a glance to" Whieh marking to shift the pointer in order to locate the brushes T2 in con'mot with. a certain row 01" contactbloclrs 70 and produce 2. designate-(l musical eiiect.

There are as mauyhrushi eleotromugneizs 20, and each brush. by a suitable lead-wire 'l' lto proper mugnet. "est row of 18 joined To each block in the high contact-blocks 70 a lead-wire 65 osses from a brush 4C1 contacting Willi the iieriphery of toothed disk 40 by means of which the electric impulses are produced; the current (10min g thereto from lll'l; source of electricity through the wire (ill.

For i-he produciziou oi the normal ones on the musical instrument, the our 1''] remains with it's brushes .in'touch with the highest row of blocks "40; then a key 1 being deruessed, the current flows from the source through the proper disk priule block lJllQi'lQfi through the brush in erm'tzu-t with the letter to the map et in aircuit tluirewiiih; from there through the wire 3 to the key 1, thence back to the souroe 60 ihrouglrthe wires all, 62. ll hieluwer key is thus depressed, the proper. umber of puls1 tious per uuu. of time is imparted to the nmguel'. which controls thes rug designed to vibrate the some number or times: and hence the piano strings all resound with their normal tones or quality.

To produce the lone qualities due in pulserious of higher frequency in the some strings, by imparting to the u'uiguets pulsations timed to correspond. to the fifths, octaves, etc". of their normal vibrations, the oontuet-blmrks 70 are arranged as follows: As shown in Fig. 3, the board 85, which may he of'wood or other insulating material, has the blocks 70 affixed thereto holi'h by cementing and by :1 mail or pin penetrating each block end project le through, and for u shore beyond the hack of, said board. 'lo projeebiug ends oi s '(l pins or rails are s11 l 1 +20 to the appro or which the highest row oil blocks 70 um electrically ooupled with the rows below The manner in which these rows are. \"(EllillQil is shown in Fig. 4., where ouch block or pin in the topmost: row mar-lie l Noruuil is con neoted by the short wires Ell to :1 pin J0 in the row next below Swen pins away: each pin of ibis lest-rimmed row is wired to the row next below fire pins away, i llOl'OlJy undo lug each block in this last row on ()(llilYO distant (twelve semi-tones) from each couuected block in the first row, In the some manner :his third row has its pins wired to pins in the 0 lower rows seven and live blocks di oul, uiul then finally to the lowermost row iour blocks pins away. As illustruced in lfiig. l, the pulsation produoiug devices l0, ll. udupied lo produoe pulsul ions equal in number to the vibrations of the string, are coupled, to the eleot-rou'iflour-l1 20 which uctuutes string 10 of the pitch on octave-lower, that is. C"; the brush 72 connected with said elm-laxuuuguel being in touch with a block whose pin 90 is wired to the (j? pin in the Noriuul. row. "Vith all the brushes 72 thus positioned, ouch string 10 will have commuuiouled thereto uotuuliug impulses an octave higher in pitch. While this causes all the strings to vibrate on a higher pitch, it will. :i-t'the sumo time cause them emit absolutely new qualities; each Change from one row to another of the blocks educiu still ol'her tiinhres,

along with the expect er changes in pitch.

For the szu'ze oi? simplicity in illustration, the brush '22 1s sluim'u in Fig. 4: us though it were supported at its lower end, inst-ind of at its upper end as shown in Fig. 1.

By moving ilie brushes 72 into touoh with some other row oil eoniuots 90, or to other rows nol; illustrutelil, uuy (usher desirable rates of pulsutlo can he delivered to the eleetron'mgnets. l' or exzuuple, if pulsations of the r1 uuoucy are switched to the F magnet, the string oru'rospo uliu'g to this umgnet will. lor O il requeney, hut. 'vu. which has its -owu s s These int rmediate truuspositiims give efi'euts, which in certain oases are desir 2-1 new ground tone vitem oi harmonics. U101 able,

but which it is not deemed necessur to elaborate, since the iuveulum consists broadly in means for ollecti u fsueh trailspositions, and in carrying out jthe novel method claimed, of usual tone effects.

in forming the blocks 70, the preferred W1 lS to take long strips of brass oi. a width equal to the size of the blocks, with holes drilled therein at whet will afterward become the centers of the blows, end cement fl-lld uziil these strips side by side upon the board 85, but Yl llll u slight space between the strips filled in with a suitable'uowconducting cement or other material.

d to vilu'ulo with the 4 Then when the cement has allhardened, these strips are cut or sawed through transversely, thus forming wholly separate blocks, and the sawkerfs all filled in with cement or other non-conducting material. This method of forming the blocks and of Wiring them to each other provides an exceedingly economical and practical manner of doing what isotherwise a most expensive operation. 7

It is to be remembered that each of the toothed disks 40 before mentioned must be rotated uniformly and must be maintained in sensilol perfect synchronisin with the sonorous body With which it is normally associated. No ordinary governing is of any avail, since variations in speed too slight to be detected by any other means impair or destroy. both the loudness and the timbre of the tones. The synchronism for the best musical results must be so perfect as not to exhibit the slightest beat between the frequency of the current and that ofthc sonorous body it is intended normally to operate.

It is manifestly requisite to the obtainment of different musical tiinbres after the manner of our invention, that each current pulsator shall be practically perfectly synchronized With the sonorous body With which it is normally associated, if good musical results are to follow the switching of different frequencies of pulsations into the different magnets for we have discovered that a defect hardly noticeable in the tone emitted by a sonorous body energized by pulsations from the pulsator oiinally asso ciated with it, will be greatly amplified when this sonorous body-speaks in response to pulsations from any othef'ipulsator. ln

View of this it will be seen that a dhange of speed in the rotative"mechanism might easily render nugatory a change iii-the quality controller, for which reason the necessity of constant synchronism as a prerequisite to proper change of tone timbre \vill'be pereotly apparent. I a

*While some form of synchronizer, and one capable of producing perfect or substantiallyperfect timing of the pulsations, is essential to the attainment of the results herein set forth; the present invention is not restricted to any particula form of said device. Synchronizers suitable to the purpose are, however, set forth in our joint application SerialNo. 563,487, filed May 25th, 1910, and'in the sole applications of M. L. Sever-y, Serial No. 619,633, filed April 7th, 1911, and Serial No. 620,002, filed April 10th, 1911. As these are distinct inventions, and some of them sole inventions, they are not set forth or claimed in this application.

In our joint application, Serial No. 379,714 filed June 19, 1907. is further dis.- closure and description of features more or less in common with featuresof this present pulse-producing and delivering means normally individual to each body, said impulses being equalin frequency respectively to the vibrational frequency of the fundamental ofvthe sonorous body normally associated therewith, and means operative at ill for delivering to said bodies impulses of frequencies higher than the fundamental frequencies of said bodies.

2. The combination with sonorous bodies tuned in musical relationship, of means-for normally c lelivering to said bodies impulses equal in frequencies to the vibrational-frequencies of their fundamentals, and means operative at will for delivering to certain of said bodies impulses normally delivered to others of said bodies having higher pitches, thereby producing tones of different qualities.

3. The combination of sonorous bodies tuned in musical relationship,- electromagnets for actuating said bodies, means for delivering electric pulsations to said electroinagnets corresponding in frequencies to the vibrational-frequeiicies of the fuiidan'ientals of their associated bodies, and means provided with an indicator for switching to certain of said electromagnets the pulsations normally delivered to other electromagnets associated with the bodies of higher pitches.

41. The combination of sonorous magnetically attractive bodies tuned in musical rela tionship, electromagnets for vibrating said bodies, means for delivering electric pulsations to said electroniagnets, the pulsations delivered to each electromagnet corresponding in frequency to the fundamental vibra tionsof the body associated therewith, and means operative at will adapted for delivering to certain of said elcctroinagnets electric pulsations of frequencies higher than the fundamental frequencies of their associated sonorous bodies.

5. The combination of sonorous bodies tuned in musical relationship, electric means for vibrating said bodies, and switching means for said electric means, said switching means comprising a multiplicity of coin tact-s arranged in transverse and longitudb nairows', brushes corresponding in number and arrangement to said transverse rows, means for moving said brushes along said transverse rows, and connections between said brushes and electric means and 'between the latter and the contacts in one of the longitudinal rows, the lastmcntioned contacts being Wired to certain contacts in each of the other longitudinal rows.

6. The combination of sonorous bodies tuned in musical relationship, electric means tor vibrating said bodies, and switching means for the latter, said switching means comprising a supporting frame, a curved board, rows of eonnectedcontacts on said board. a. bar and arms pivoted to said frame, brushes carried by said bar in touch with one IOW of said contacts, a spring for counter balancing said arms and bar, and a lever and connections therefrom to said arms and bar to move the latter vertically When said lever is swung horizontally, said brushes and also the contacts of one of said rows being connected with said electric means.

7. The combination of sonorous magnetically attractive bodies, electromagnets for actuating the same means for producing properlytimed electric pulsations for said eltctroniagnets, and means operative at will for directing to said electromagnets pulsations of higher frequency than those normally delivered thereto and thereby Chang ing the quality of the tones produced.

8. A musical instrument comprising electromagnetically attractive sonorous bodies, and elcctroinagnets adapted for vibrating the same, means for varying the timbre of k inds emitted by said bodies comprising novices adapted for delivering to said electromagnets pulsations in synchronism both with the tumlamentals of said bodies and also at will. with other periodicities in musical relation with such fundamentals, means under the control of the player for determining which of said pulsations shall be delivered to the elcctromagnets.

9. A musical instrument comprisingtuned sonar-ens bodies, means for electromagnetically attracting said bodies, and means for interrupting the magnetic attraction of each body with a. frequency correspomling to its fundamental rate of vilu'ation, or also at will with frequencies greater than-the same but bearing musical relation thereto, whereby a plurality of tin'ibres can be educed from the same body.

10. The combination with a plurality of sonorous bodies respectively tuned to definite musical pitches; of electromagnetic means for independently eliciting. from each of said bodies at will, a musical tone of pitch other than that to which such body is tuned.

11. The combination of a plurality of sonorous bod ies'; electromagnets for their actuation; means for delivering to said magnets pulsations frequencies correspending to the normal frequencies of v,.- bration of their associated sonorous bodies; and means controllable by the operator for independently delivering to each of said magnets at will, pulsations of a frequency greater than the frequency of vibration to which its associatedsonorous body is tuned.

12. A musical instrument tuned sonorous bodies; means for vibrating them; and means for changing their tone quality at will in a definite manner and to a predetermined extent, while maintaining said bodies free or open throughout theirfull vibrational length.

13. A. musical instrument comprising magnetically attractive sonorousj bodies; electromagnets for actuating them; a source otclectric current; make-and-brake devices timed to the fundamental vibrations of said bodies; connections between said source, devices and electromagnets; and means, operative at will, for delivering to the electr0- magnets of selected bodies the pulsations of frequencies normal to others of said bodies.

14. The art of educing from a tuned sonorous body a tone of different pitch and quality'from that given of? by such body when vibrating frcely,, which consists in electrically imparting to said body vibration of a frequency other than that which produces its fundamental tone.

1.. The art of educing from. a tuned sonorousmetallic body a tone of different pitch and quality from that given oil by comprising such body when vibrating freely, which con;

sists in imparting to said bodyvibration of a frequency different from that which pro duces its fundamental, tone.

16. The art of etlucing from tuned sonorous metallic body a tone of different pitch and quality from that given ofi by such body when vibrating freely, which consists in electrically imparting to said body vibration of a frequency different from that which produces its fundamental tone. 17. The art of producing musical tones, "lvliich consists in imparting to a tuned sonorous metallic body, vibration of a fre quency greater than that which produces its fundamental tone, and thereby cducing a tone quality unlike that emitted by said body when vibrating with the frequency which produces said fundan'iental tone.

19. The art of producing musical tones,

\vhiclrconsists in electrically imparting to a tuned sonorous body vibrations of a frcquency materially greater than those which produce its fundamental tone, and thereby educing a tone quality unlike that of said fundamental tone.

19. The art of eliciting at will from a tuned sonorous metallic body any one of a plurality of tone qualities, which consists in causing in said body vibrations which produce primarily and as a ground tone of ground tones,

responding to anyone of the upper harmonics of the natural fundamental tone of .such body when vibrating freely.

20. The art of eliciting atwill from a tuned sonorous body, any one of a plurality cally causing in said body vibrations which are of the frequenc of a selected one of the natural harmonics of said body when the same is Vibrating freely.

21.' The art of producing tones of various tilnbres, which consists in forcing a given sonorous body to vibrate at a frequency corany selected higher harmonic of said body, andthereby causing said body to give off an entirely new ground tone accompanied by itsown set of harmonics.

22. The art of producing tones of various timbres, which consists in electrically forcing a given sonorous body to vibrate at a frequency corresponding to some harmonic of said body, and thereby causing said body which consists inelectri-- to give forth a ground tone different from its normal or'usual fundamental and accompanied by its-own set of harmonics.

23. Thc'art of cduoing musical tones, which consists in producing in electromagnet-circuits pulsations equal in their frequencies to the frequencies of vibration of magnetically attractable sonorous bodies tuned to the musical scale, and causing such pulsations, of higher -frequency, to be delivered to an electromagnetarranged to.

attract a sonorous body whose fundamental tone is produced by vibrations of lower frequency.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing invention, we have hereunto set our hands this 21st day of July, 1905.

MELVIN L. SEVERY, GEORGE B. SINCLAIR. Witnesses:

FRED G. TILTON, A. B. UPHAM. 

